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August 15, 2010

Pedroia: "Jump On The Wagon"

Dustin Pedroia singled and walked in four plate appearances for Pawtucket on Saturday afternoon.

FY grounded to shortstop in the 1st, singled to the pitcher and scored on a sac fly in the 3rd, flied to right in the 5th, and worked an 8-pitch walk in the 7th. He handled four chances in the field.

It's been a while since I played. Later in the game I was a little tired, but overall, I felt fine. ... I told Tito that I don't plan to play just five innings on Tuesday.

Pedroia will be the PawSox's DH on Sunday afternoon and probably rejoin the Red Sox on Tuesday.

Everybody in that clubhouse feels we can win. We don't need to prove anything to anybody. We've had guys fight through it all year. Frankly, we don't give a shit what anybody thinks. ... Jump on the wagon now because it's going to be a fun ride.

The Red Sox are 4 GB the Rays in the Wild Card, with 42 games left to play. Between August 27 and September 8, Boston plays Tampa Bay six times. And six of the Red Sox's last ten games of the regular season are against the Yankees.

The results showed some edema to the soft tissue in the same area, suggesting new trauma from the fall. There's like a line, a faint line, at the fracture site. It's impossible to tell [whether it's] new [or] incomplete healing. ... [Could this be a while?] Yeah. ... He didn't want to [come out of Friday's game], but it was pretty obvious to me he was hurting.

The Red Sox lead all major league teams with 54 save opportunities (saves + blown saves) this season. Boston has also had 108 separate save situations; for example, both Scott Atchison and Felix Doubront had a chance for a save on Saturday. By contrast, the Yankees, who have played two fewer games than the Red Sox but have five more wins, have had 39 save opportunities and 89 save situations. Playing so many games that are close in the late innings increases the chances for more than a few gut-punch losses.

That's an interesting stat on saves and save opportunities. I am not sure how to interpret it, but I can't find a really positive spin on it. It means the Yankees are better at staying further ahead of more of their opponents than we are, which means either their pitching is much better or their offense is better or both.

It also explains why Papelbon has so many saves despite (IMHO) not being that great a closer. He just has had more opportunities to get saves than most pitchers. Like win/loss records, total saves does not tell us very much since it depends on the number of save opportunities a closer gets. A closer may have fewer saves than Papelbon because his team has been in fewer save situations. I guess the more telling stat is the percentage of saves a closer has when presented with a save situation.

I know I am a bit obsessed in my Papelbon thing, but I see us being 4 games out of the wild card with Papelbon having 5 losses, six blown saves, as a big reason for that gap.

I know I am a bit obsessed in my Papelbon thing, but I see us being 4 games out of the wild card with Papelbon having 5 losses, six blown saves, as a big reason for that gap.

In all due respect, that is absurd and very shortsighted...I have a suggestion just watch the 9th inning from this point forward. No reason for details of the game , seeing Pap is going to get the "blame" anyway.....

Your attitude on Papelbon is set and no one can change that... But try to look at the game as whole from the first inning on, rather then saving all your hate for Pap...

I guess the more telling stat is the percentage of saves a closer has when presented with a save situation.

It's better than a counting stat, but there are saves when the Sox are up by 3 runs and no one is on base and there are saves when the Sox are up by 1 run and the bases are loaded.

Some saves are very easy to get and some are very easy to blow. For example, Rivera's blown saves in 2004 ALCS G4 and G5 are very different.

Before "closer" became a popular term, "fireman" was used. Rolaids had an award for the Fireman of the Year. If you are ahead 5-2 and your closer starts a clean ninth inning, there is not much of a fire going on. (That was one early complaint about all of Eck's saves under LaRussa. He came in at the beginning of the 9th, clean inning, no matter what.)

9C, no reason to get nasty. I watch a lot more than the 9th inning. In fact, if all I watched was the 9th inning, I would have stopped watching long ago.

I realize that Papelbon does not bear sole responsibility for where we are in the standings. But I do believe that he bears a fair amount of it when he comes in with a lead and blows it. His job is to do the opposite.

Not at all. I am always rooting for the team to win, which means I am always hoping he will (surprise me and) save the game. I get angry when he does not.

Now, it's true I would probably not want to have a beer with him, but I wonder how many of these guys I would ever enjoy hanging out with. The fact that I don't like their politics or their attitudes or think they're rednecks does not mean I don't root for them to do well when on the Sox. I doubt I would even like Tek much as a person, and as you know, he's a favorite of mine.

So believe me, I am rooting for Papelbon EVERY time he goes out there for the Sox. And I always will, as long as he is on our team.

Amy, I know you root for the team to win and always win, and I know your hatred of Papelbon is not about him personally.

But it does seem - from your comments, that's all I can go on - that you place far too much blame on one player for the Sox's place in the standings. We've lost some very frustrating close games, but we've won close games, too, and we've lost in other ways, too, and for many other reasons.

I know we all feel the way we feel and we can't help what we feel. So I do understand that. I'm enjoying this season, despite our record, and you've mentioned that you are not enjoying it at all. So I understand that on the one hand.

But OTOH your focus on Pap and how much blame he bears for the Sox's many issues is somewhat mystifying to me.

I also assume that every player wants to win every day, likely much more than we want them to, and that everyone is doing the best job that they can. Papelbon can't like what he's going through. It must completely suck and if he could help it, he would.

All true, Laura. I admit that I am taking out almost all of my frustration with the team on Papelbon, and I admit that is neither fair nor right. But we feel what we feel, as they say.... I guess to me there is no more painful loss that a late inning blown lead. When we are behind for most of a game, I am disappointed, but not angry. When we lose after leading in the 9th, it is a gut-punch, as Allan said. Those losses stay with me, and unfortunately, those are the ones where usually Papelbon has been to blame.

I have had a hard time this season, perhaps because of all the injuries more than anything else. Plus I have been distracted by life and not as focused or able to watch the games as much as usual. It just seems that when I do, bad things happen! That makes it hard to have fun. At least for me!

The fact that I don't like their politics or their attitudes or think they're rednecks does not mean I don't root for them to do well when on the Sox.

That is probably why shitty days from Schilling and Timlin annoyed me more than the same from Gidget (though maybe he was a neo-con, too; the point is I didn't have that tidbit to further annoy me about him).

But OTOH your focus on Pap and how much blame he bears for the Sox's many issues is somewhat mystifying to me.

I find it amusing. And I don't know if it's all that odd. There are always players who you give more or less slack to -- and those decisions are often (usually) based on personal things. (Or you hate whole teams or cities.)

In the opposite direction, I've been accused of loving anything Manny did as long it was not serial murder (like with a high body count, over 12). I could defend myself, but many people were mystified.

I hear you, completely. My best example for that is how, during 2007, I wanted the team to win the division so badly, to the point where I cared more about that than the WS. I felt that if we won the World Series through the wild card, it wouldn't be good enough - it had to come through the division or nothing.

Totally irrational, but I couldn't help it, that was the way I felt.

I've also been very distracted this season and paying much less attention to baseball than I have for many, many years. That's why I'm enjoying it, no matter what our record.

It's such a pleasure to relax in front of a game, to think about nothing but baseball, that I am simply appreciating the beautiful game and the beautiful Red Sox, without being so wound up standings.

My expectations for postseason play went out the window a long time ago - which actually adds to my enjoyment, in a weird way. Without expectations, I can just go with whatever happens. If we make the postseason, it will be a HUGE bonus.